'SAW ALIVE' OPENING NIGHT AT THORPE PARK!

Following on from last years grand opening of the unpredictably popular 'SAW: The Ride', that opened at UK based theme park Thorpe Park, they've gone and done it  again with the celebrity opening launch night of 'SAW Alive: The Live Action Horror Maze'. And my colleague and I were lucky enough to attend.

"Be forced to 'Face Your Fears' by navigating that attraction's six rooms depicting the most grisly and iconic scenes from the six 'Saw' movies to date. Those who survive Jigsaw's ultimate test, 'SAW Alive', will also have their nerves pushed to the absolute limit on Thorpe Park's adrenaline-fuelled rides. The nation's thrill capital just became a whole lot more terrifying. Can you handle it?"

The evening kicked off with everyone's favourite experience, the FREE bar. And so after a few bottles and glasses of wine were necked we were all herded and forced to congregate outside in the bitter cold. Amongst the celebrities (can I use that term loosely here?) in attendance were previous Celebrity Big Brother housemates Lady Sovereign and Chantelle Houghton, mockney tit Danny Dyer, Gary Lucy, Bill Bailey, Hollyoaks stars Mark Littler and Darren Jeffries (Max and OB), along with dancer Brendan Cole and music stars Dizzee Rascal and Lemar. Amongst others.

And with our drinks well dispensed, our electric-shock warning waiver forms(!) and tightening feelings in our chest we made our way over to 'SAW Alive'. My expectations for this new 'experience' were actually quite high, possibly too much so. I for one am a bit of thrill seeker and am happy to take on any ride big or small. This however had a whole different feeling to it. It's effectively a walk-thru horror house - each room mapped out and decorated as memorable scenes from all 6 'Saw' movies (to date). And the one thing that disturbed me beforehand was the mention of live actors being allowed to touch you!

A small group of us were led into the warehouse building and instructed to place our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us as we were led around. As we entered the initial room a maniacal actor playing the part of some kind of security guard who had had waaaay too much coffee began hyperventilating and instructing us to watch a video of the infamous Jigsaw puppet. And as the clock ticked down we entered the next room. And fans of the 'Saw' franchise would have instantly picked up that this room was the bathroom from the first 'Saw' movie. Complete with actors crawling across the floor to another sawing off his foot in the corner. YES! These guys grab your ankles.

Next up you're met with people jumping at walls, person or persons walking around in cloaks and pig heads, but more notably a topless actress hanging in a cold-room scenario (from part 3 I believe) and you could tell it was a COLD room! Apparently there was some form of electric shock administered throughout the maze, however, no one could be quite sure where and when it happened. And ultimately the whole experience was over in a matter of minutes. Whether this is due to the hysterical bunch of girls in front of us (leading this bizarre conga) racing through each room and not really stopping to see just what the hell was going on. Asides from that it wasn't bad. I'm just trying to imagine when it opens officially if they would be letting in people under a certain age as there are some quite graphic elements included in the experience that I'm not sure parents would want their son or daughter to be subjected to.

After all that excitement (or lack of(!?)) it was time to head back over to the one THEY GOT RIGHT! 'SAW: The Ride' - with the UK's most vertical drop (Oblivion at Alton Towers? PAH!). Having been on the ride numerous times now in the past year it still holds as one of the best rides I've been on ever. And experiencing it in the dark is a must.

After assimilating ourselves into numerous groups and once again sneaking our way into the celeb group being marched around privately we were able to enjoy a number of other night time goes on Thorpe Parks more popular rides. All in all it was a pretty successful night.

Thorpe Park reopens its doors for the 2010 season on Thursday 18th March! And you can win tickets to go right here on the Horror Asylum. Win FREE Thorpe Park tickets!

And don't forget that 'Saw VI' is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray from all good stockists. And if you'd like to win your very own copy simply enter our latest Saw VI Blu-Ray and DVD Giveaway.